I live due west of Oklahoma City by about 45 minutes to an hour and it's open prairie, fields, wooded areas, streams and rocky outcroppings all along the way. Further SW by another half-hour I have a two-room cabin on the crest of a canyon by a lake in a very rugged, arid region that has loads of wildlife. Besides cattle, people out here herd sheep and goats. We have coyotes and lots of deer, jack rabbit, ducks, partridge, quail and other small game. This is good Cougar territory.

My second sighting was while I was driving my pick-up to the gym at 4:00 am this past April. The clutch had been giving me trouble for a number of months, and this morning I was about 10 miles east of my house in open prairie and it gave out when I realized what was happening and tried to get back home. The engine kept running but the clutch was gone; I kept it running with the lights on, got out and pushed for about a quarter mile and realized this wouldn't work for the next 9 miles or so. I got back in, called my roadside assistance and answered their questions, getting out and checking my license number in the process. They said someone would be out to get me in about 30 minutes and to "stay with my vehicle." No problem there. It was pitch-black out and the wind suddenly turned out of the north. I went ahead and shut the engine off and the lights and waited. Out of the dark about 50' behind me I heard this deep, warbling growl that escalated into a throaty yowling and back down deep again. It was too high off the ground for a Bobcat, too loud and the length of the sound proved it was being made by a bigger set of lungs. This conclusion was reinforced by a barely distinguishable (unmistakable) outline of the big cat and a pair of eyes glaring out of the dark about the height the first Cougar had been. Again, I thought my heart would stop. I hunkered down into the seat so it couldn't see me as I listened to it circling the pickup, getting closer and louder over the next 15-20 minutes. I could see the lights of the wrecker about a quarter of a mile away and I guess the Cougar did, too; it stopped howling at me and took off. I was never so glad to see another human being in my life. The scariest part of this whole episode was that I had been out of the pickup in the dark for a long time pushing my pickup and then getting out to check my license plate once I had stopped and had called roadside assistance.

So, there you have it. Call me paranoid, but I always make sure nothing is wrong with my pickup whenever I have to go out in the dark or to a remote area, day or night. I have a fully-charged cell phone with me at all times and my pepper spray.
This was written Nov 28 05:42:40 2005, published here with very minor editing

This second cougar encounter for me was closer to my home, about 5+ miles east of El Reno, OK, 4 am, April 2005. Heavily overcast, very dark, chilly, breezy, no artificial light for about a mile to the west and nothing for more than that to the east. There had been rain within the last several days or so. I had looked behind me (east) when I saw his outline and eyes in the dark, so the one roadside light a mile to the west was the only illumination I had. And I was quite sure the animal could have smashed a window if it had a mind to; my windshield has a fine crack running horizontally through it end to end. That was my biggest worry, which is why I hunkered down into the seat so it couldn't see me. I wasn't fooling him; he knew I was in there. And yes, I did use my cell phone and at that hour Cingular answered immediately from their Canadian location. It didn't dawn on me until I was home that the cat could have come after me while I was pushing my pickup; in the "adrenalin let-down" an hour or so later that realization hit me so hard I almost passed out.

Feel free to publish these. There needs to be more awareness.
This was written Nov 28 10:23:59 2005, published here with very minor editing

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